Dark Fire
by Jigoku-iki-shchin
Summary: Ari is a new first year and good friends with Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, and Lily. But things can happen...


D A R K F I R E  
  
Note: It is of my knowledge that many people are fans of Remus Lupin. So, If you become excessively jealous of the character Ari, please feel free to substitute your name for 'Ari.'  
  
This fic is written by Jigoku-iki shôchin and Tanuki. Tanuki had the idea, but Jigoku finished the story. In any case, it was basically a two-done deal. R&R, thanks.  
  
Disclaimer: Niether of us own Harry Potter, although we wish we did. This is one of the very first works Tanuki and I have created about Harry Potter, so we hope you enjoy it. !!  
  
  
  
**Hi. I'm Ari. Yeah, I'm a werewolf. what's it to ya?**  
  
  
  
**  
  
Ari felt the cool evening wind blow across her face, causing some strands of hair to dance and twirl playfully in the wind, brushing her cheeks. She breathed in deeply, and stared up at the setting sun. She couldn't believe it. She had been bitten. But not by just anything, like a gopher or a squirrel with rabies, but something much worse. A wolf. But not any wolf. A WERE wolf. She glanced at the deep, bloody gash that ran diagonally along her shoulder, going up to her neck and collarbone. The dark blood dripped down her shoulder, and had gotten in her deep black hair, matting it down. She swished her tail. It had not yet gone away, and she still had her ears poking out from beneath her hair. But by the time the sun had fully set, they were gone. She sighed. Now she could never attend school. Headmaster Dippet had strict rules on that stuff, that old bastard. He would rather have slugs slither up his butt then have a werewolf set foot onto Hogwarts grounds. //Why,// she thought, //why did this happen to me? What did I do?//  
  
She was shot back into reality as the crickets started chirping loudly all around her, and she could hear a few frogs trilling. She should go home. Home. Bed. Sleep. But she was too tired. Transforming alone, let alone a massive wound, could take a lot of energy. She let herself fall backwards and landed by the base of a tree. Wet dirt clung to face, but she was too tired to wipe it off, and the cool dirt felt good since her face was red and hot from crying.  
  
"It's official," clenched her hand into a fist for a second, then let her hand relax. "My Life is ruined."  
  
That was the last thought that crossed her mind before she fell to a fitful sleep. She didn't know how long she layed there, nor did she care. Nothing mattered anymore. Her life was ruined. As far as she was concerned, she could die. It would be better than living.  
  
**  
  
"-i..."  
  
"-ri..."  
  
"-ari...?"  
  
"--Ari?.."  
  
Ari wrenched her eyes open. Her whole body was sore, and the bite on her shoulder stung, even worse than if you dabbed salt on it. She rolled over on her stomach, burying her face in her pillow.  
  
A muffled "Whaaaat?" came from the dark red pillow. She sat up, and flexed her shoulder. She winced, then looked up to see the face of her mother. She had Brown hair that had a small tint of red, and bright blue eyes. Her mother looked back and called out, "Micha! Ari's awake!" Her father came into the room from his bedroom. He had sandy-blonde hair and Dark brown eyes.  
  
"I found a healing spell." He took out his wand. Ari liked his wand. It was made of dark wood. Mahogany, with Ash Leaf. He touched his wand to her shoulder, running it along the edge of her wound. A small blue glow outlined the gash, and turned green and faded away when his wand met back at the point which it had started from. Slowly, the wound seemed to melt and fade away, but there was still a scar where the wound had been deepest. Like those armband things teenage Muggles wore sometimes. It was a mark. A mark that told her she had been cursed. Her father got up and went to the bathroom to get a bandage. Her bite was so severe that the spell hadn't quite healed it.  
  
"What happened, Ari? You were out for hours, and then we found you laying by a tree in the woods," Her mother said worridly.  
  
"Did someone hurt you?" her father asked scardly, returning from the bathroom with a large bandage in his arms.  
  
"No. No one did this to me. It...it was an animal."  
  
"No animal could make a bite like that..unless.." She hugged Ari for a long time. Her eyes were like deep pools of water that welled and spilled down her cheeks.  
  
"Oh, honey..... I'm so sorry...." **  
  
Ari sulked for two weeks. She hardly ate anything, and slept a lot on the couch, reading the book that her mother had given her on her birthday, Mystical Creatures and Spirits. It *would* have been on her list of supplies. She had finished her book and was drawing a picture of a Kitstune in her notebook. She was just drawing the tail when her father burst in.  
  
"Ari! Lyssa! Look!" he cried, his face windblown and sandy blonde hair ruffled, but he had a large toothy grin plastered on his face. He threw a paper on Ari's lap, and ran to the Kitchen were her mother was boiling water for spaghetti. But Ari also smelled spinach. Or was it beans? It didn't matter, whatever it was, she wasn't eating it. She was picky. With everything. More than once, an exasperated Lyssa would sigh and say, "Really, Ari! If you were asked to choose a number between one and three you would never make up your mind!"  
  
Besides, lately she hadn't felt like eating much vegetables. But meat was good. Venison. Pork. Chicken. And in this case, the Meatballs in the Spaghetti. She smiled hungrily and licked her lips. But then her attention was drawn back to the headlines on the paper.  
  
She looked at the headline on top of the Daily Prophet and gasped.  
  
"Headmaster Dippet Retires-Professor Dumbledore made new headmaster."  
  
Ari's eyes widened. The article went on explaining the things that Dumbledore was going to change. Ari jumped up and ran into the kitchen, where her father was excitedly telling her mother that he had sent Dumbleore an owl the instance he found out, and had got a reply, saying Ari was allowed to go. Ari's mother was beaming, her blue eyes doing that fun sparkle thing. They all ate happily that night, talking of nothing else except of when Ari was going to start school. Ari beamed many times while stuffing the meatballs into her mouth and her mother kept constantly hugging her. Ari finally felt she might belong at Hogwarts.  
  
**  
  
That Saturday they went to Diagon Alley. her mother and father had agreed with her in saying that they should get her new supplies ASAP, and Ari could do anything but refuse. She had just came out of Ollivanders'--quite pleased with her wand, in fact. It was long, about 14 inches, and Mahogany, exactly like Micha's, but it had a hair from a white wolf instead of a claw from a dragon. Mr. Ollivander commented on it was odd how she got that wand. Only two other people had ever had that type, and it was only for those with a great power of the heart, who could survive under any conditions. Ari thought that was kind of fitting. Her motto had always been 'Never Surrender.'  
  
She had started to go find the book shop when an owl dropped a letter on her head. She cussed at the owl, but opened the letter, wondering who would have sent her a letter like that.  
  
It was addressed to her from Professor Dumbledore. He and Madam Pomfrey had found a cave in the Forbidden Forest that she would have to go into the cave to transform every full moon. The cave had been secured with many spells and charms and only she would be able to enter it, and nothing could leave the cave until the full moon was over and she had transformed back. She ran back and handed the letter to her mother.  
  
"I have everything. Oh, yeah and Professor Dumbledore sent me a letter. Can I go look in the pet shop?"  
  
Her mother sighed, and handed her Five Galleons. "Allll-right.. just don't buy anything too expensive, 'kay?"  
  
"Mmm Hmm... "  
  
Ari dashed all the way to the other end of the alley. She pushed the door open, and was overwhelmed with the smell of kibble. A witch in livid purple robes came out from the back room, holding some boxes. She dropped them by the counter with aloud 'thud.'  
  
"Need anything, or just browsing?" She said half-mindedly, poking around in the boxes.  
  
Ari turned from the owls she had been looking at.  
  
"Browsing."  
  
She looked at the last cage in the corner. A scruffy black cat with wings sat hunched, looking mournfully to one side.  
  
"What's this?" Ari said suspiciously.  
  
The witch at the counter glanced at it with a sense of annoyance.  
  
"Oh...that mangy thing? You can have it if you really want it. But are you sure you don't want an owl or a regular cat instead? Besides, that thing grows to a giant panther at will. Doesn't like people. Bit one guy's arm off."  
  
"How much do you want for him?" Ari said, extracting her five gold galleons from her pocket.  
  
The witch looked surprised for a moment, and shoved aside the boxes. She looked up the ceiling, thinking.  
  
"Well..about a Galleon I guess." Ari tossed tossed the coin over at her and opened the cage.  
  
"Hello, you cute little thing! How are you?" She cooed. The kitten looked at her scaredly, but cautiously walked forward and Ari stroked it's back. Ari quickly shut the cage and picked it up, all the while trying not to scare the kitten.  
  
For two knuts she bought a leash and collar, which she proceeded to fasten around the cat's neck. It suddenly grew about ten times its size and roared.  
  
"Wow, really scary! Now you have to brush your teeth or something cause your breath smells like you ate a skunk carcass! Now, come on."  
  
**  
  
Micha drove Ari to King's Cross Station. He unloaded all of her things onto a dollie Micha gave her a kiss on the forhead and hugged her goodbye.  
  
"Now, you be good, and write to us often, Hm?" He asked, tears bubbling in his eyes. Ari groaned and shook her head.  
  
"Dad! Not here...we're in public!"Ari said impatiently. She smiled and waved to him, then started walked towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She was escpecially nervous since it would be a full moon in four days, and she was really scared she woudl kill something...or someone. She draped her school robes around Auriga's (she named her kitten Augira) cage. She though it might be a bit odd to see a cat with wings, growing to a panther sized animal whenever it felt the least bit frightened. She made sure no one was watching, and pushed the cart through the wall at top speed. She waited for a few minutes to make sure no one was suspicious, and quickly boarded the train. She suddenly dropped one of her books, and not that it would be anything important, but when she looked up, Auriga had run off into another compartment. She threw her luggage to the side angrily and chased after him.  
  
"AURIGA! YOU F-" Ari was about to swear somethin' really innapropriate for the youngin's to hear, but she stopped dead when she saw that there happened to be people in this car. And one of those people was sharing his sandwich with Auriga. There were two others, both with black hair, but one with bright green eyes. He piped up.  
  
"Hi. My name's James Potter. *That* would be Sirius Black. He's gay," James snickered, shaking Ari's hand. The other blackhaired boy smacked James on the head.  
  
"Am not! You're gay!" He yelled angrily.  
  
"You are!" James snapped back.  
  
"You LIE!" Sirius screeched.  
  
Ari watched in fascination, and her eyes darted to the other guy in the car. He still was feeding Auriga, not paying any mind to his less mature comrades. Ari let her attention wander back to the two bickering boys.  
  
"GGGGAAAAYYY!"  
  
"Well at least we know you're not gay, James, since you go out with Liiiiiiiiilyyyyy, oooooooooh!"  
  
"Shut up!" James said.  
  
"Ooooh, bring some flowers for Liiiiiiiiilyyyyy, James?" Sirius batted his eyes and smooched up his lips, pretending to be a girl in love with him. James looked furious.  
  
"Bastard!"  
  
"Scrub!"  
  
"Fag!"  
  
"I'm not gay! It just so happens I have a g-" Sirius caught his tongue, as James got a twisted smile on his face.  
  
The guy who shared his sandwich with Auriga looked at Ari and smiled.  
  
"Don't mind them. They're twisted."  
  
Ari snorted loudly as she smiled at him. He smiled back. At that, Sirius grinned.  
  
"Dude Man Reemy! The walls! They're spinnin'! Oh God! The colors!"  
  
"Dude Man, I'm flippin'! I'm flippin'!" James began to stumble around, giving a dazed, half-awake expression as Sirius followed suit.  
  
"Are you sure the party didn't have any drugs, James?" Sirius said slowly, while bumping into a seat and stumbling over.  
  
"Naww, Man! There was just Booze..and Weed..and some guys were on crack...but no drugs, man, no drugs!" James said happily as he fell on top of Sirius and pretended to fall unconscious.  
  
"Dude, they're burned!" Ari said, laughing.  
  
Sandwich man snickered as she made her comment.  
  
Sirius and James proceeded to sit, playing a magical radio, not moving or blinking, just moving their heads side to side with the music. Ari noticed their eyes were glazed over. She laughed.  
  
"Well, I'd better get going, I'm sure there's an empty car somewhere where I can discipline this cat." She glared at Auriga.  
  
"K' bye Baby!" Sirius said in a dead-tone surfer guy way. He waved in fell over again, landing right into James back and causing James to squeal in pain.  
  
Remus dug his elbow into Sirius' side.  
  
"Hold your tonuge, you low-life gorilla!"  
  
He put on a fake threatening voice, and James snickered. Remus valiantly jumped up and yelled, "Stand and fight, you scurvy cur!"  
  
"DudeDude Man! Dig my threads! It's Cosmic powerrr!" Sirius said, holding a loose tuffet of his robes. Ari laughed again.  
  
"I'd really better go now," She said sadly, hoping she could stay.  
  
"Nonsense, you stupid person! I wouldn't hear of it! Now bite your tongue and sit, wretched girl!" Remus said in a superior sort of way.  
  
Ari smiled and sat down next to Remus, knowing this was going to be the time of her life.  
  
**  
  
Ari waited nervously in the corridor as Remus, Sirius, James and another friend of their's named Peter stood next to her, all of them laughing and not acting nervous at all. She looked around at all of the other kids while she was waiting and noticed there were some nice looking people, a few had kind of an ugly look to them, ubt one of the ugly looking ones glared at her and smirked as he made his way over to the group. He had greasy black hair and a hooked nose. Ari wondered if he was Italian. //No...way too greasy to be an Italian...// She thought when she had a closer look.  
  
James turned to see what Ari was staring at and started to laugh when Mr. Greaseball stood in front of him.  
  
"What are you staring at, Pothead?"  
  
"DudeDudeMan! I'm flippin', man! I'm flippin'! The colors man, the colors! The walls, man! They're spinnin'! Oh god!" James shouted, running around and started to laugh maniacally.  
  
The Greaseball got a confused look on his face and continued to stare.  
  
"He's Burned." Ari said smoothly, and watched his face twist. At hearing her explanation, he got a horrified look on his face.  
  
"What party did he go to?"  
  
"PARTY?! Whatpartywhere? Ohtheparty!! There weren't drugs man! No way! Naww, Man! There was just booze..and weed..and some guys were on crack..but no drugs, man, no drugs!" James laughed, patting Ari's back. Greaseball was still staring, looking mortified. James looked down at his feet.  
  
"Hey, guys...do my feet look really far away to you too?" James said in a droing, dead voice.  
  
Greaseball would have continued to stare, but Professor McGonagall started calling names to be sorted. Sirius beant over to Ari as the names began to echo through the halls and whispered into her ear, "Stay away from that guy. Severus Snape, the worst. James and him have been enimies since way back when, and we hate him, we've hated him even before term started. Stick with us and he'll leave you alone. Bet you anything he'll be in Slytherin!" Sirius chuckled. Ari chuckled as well. He turned hi attention back to the sorting. There was a girl with blonde hair and brown streaks, and she turned out to be a Ravenclaw. A short boy who had his face littered with freckles went to Hufflepuff. Then McGonagall called out,  
  
"Black, Sirius." Sirius gulped and everyone's attention turned to him. He walked up quickly and eeryone heard the hat mublinbg something for a while, then the hat roared, "Gryffindor!" He grinned and sat down at a table decorated with Scarlet and Gold. The next one in the group to be sorted was Remus. He turned out to be a Gryffindor. Peter. Gryffindor. Then went James. Gryffindor. He went to sit by a redheaded girl with green eyes. Ari assmued that it was the 'Lily' Sirius had been taunting James about before. Then the list came to the S's. They called Ari's name, 'Ari Sekanori.' and few of the teachers turned to look. Ari tried to calm herself, and quickly walked up to the front of the Great Hall. She sat down on the stool and put on a fairly well kempt, but kind of ragged black hat. It was like a voice talking in her ears.  
  
"Mmm.. You're smart, could make a good Rav-"  
  
"Pleasedon'tsendmehomepleasedon'tsendmehomepleasedo-"  
  
"Why would we send you home?"  
  
"Well...." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, hoping no one would hear her. Remus, James, Sirius and Peter were all watching the hat intently and all four of them held thier fingers crossed tightly while mouthing 'Gryffindor' to themselves. Ari saw it was Remus who had crossed all his fingers and was shutting his eyes tightly, and mumbling 'Gryffindor' more frequently.  
  
"Aaah, you're the werewolf, aren't you? Mm...bitten fairly recently, I see...Yes..there was a lot of controversy among the teachers about you...some professors didn't want you to attend, but....Dumbledore insisted everyone deserves an education...  
  
"Let's see...a few more Ravenclaw traits...yes...but still...I think you'd better be a... 'Gryffindor!'"  
  
The Gryffindor table cheered, Remus, Sirius, and James cheering the loudest of them all. Ari smiled as she put the hat back on the stand. She ran to sit down and to join her new friends.  
  
They finished sorting the rest of the students, and it turned out Snape went to Slytherin, as did one other boy who was hanging out with him earlier. he had bright blonde hair and cold silver eyes. He gave Ari chills and she remembered his name was Lucius Malfoy.  
  
When the sorting ended, finishing with Milo Zemien [Hufflepuff], Professor McGonagall picked up the stool and carried it away. Dumbledore made a speech, adding that the Forbidden Forest was off-limits to anyone who did not want to die a horrible, painful death. Ari's face turned a little red. She gave a high pitched, nervous little laugh, while James and Sirius stared at her. Remus, however, seemed to be along the same lines as Ari. He also turned red and began to laugh nervously. Then the feast began. All kinds of food covered the table and Ari's mouth watered as poured some iced pumpkin juice into her goblet. Piling her food high, she ate quickly, her diet mostly consisting mostly of meats. But, what she didn't realize was that Remus seemed to stuff his face with the same kind of foods, not even noticing the hungry carnivorus girl at his side.  
  
** Ari tossed and turned, trying to get to sleep. She couldn't, in only three days it would be the full moon. The stress was tremendous on her. //I'm was sure Dumbledore was also talking about all the creatures in the Forbidden Forest, but what if he was talking about me too? What if I was dangerous?// She though anxiously. It would cause complications someone bit something...or someone. The pain was horrible, she had already mangled her arm from the first time she had transformed. Luckily, Ari's robes covered that up. //I hope I can even find the cave...// If she didn't, she would transform out in the open and bite or hurt someone. That or something would kill her. Either way, people would know. //Dammit,// She thought.  
  
The next two days flew by. Ocassionally, she talked to Sirius or James and they seemed a little preoccupied, and told her they were sorry and they could talk to her later. Remus seemed alltogether alone. he usually trapped himself in his room and didn't talk much. On the third day, Ari noticed at breakfast he seemed paler than usual and asked him what was wrong. he didn't answer her, until he got up and toldAri he would see her in classes. She felt alone, but finally it was the day of the Full moon. It dripped by. The tension was unbearable. She had eaten supper early, eating a lot of meat, even though halfway through her meal she began to feel full. She forced herslef to eat so she could possibly become full and fall asleep during her time as a werewolf. Eventually, after eating her brains out, she trudged to the main hall and realized it was only a half hour until the moon rose. She saw Sirius on his way to the dorms.  
  
  
  
"Sirius, wait!" Ari called.  
  
He turned around.  
  
"I..have to go for a few days, and I was wondering if you would take care of Auriga for me," She said sadly, suddenly feeling so tired. Sirius eyes her with a look of suspicion but then nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Sure."  
  
"Thanks!" Ari called out tiredly. With that done, Ari ran outside. //I hate lying...and not telling the truth...//  
  
**  
  
Remus looked out the window of Madam Pomfrey's office and gave a sigh. The sun was setting. Soon Madam Pomfrey would have to take him to the Whomping Willow. A flash of quick movement caught his eye and he stared intently, his head falling off of his resting arm.  
  
Someone was running into the Forest. He tried to see who it was, but he couldn't see it's face. Then it turned around, as if checking that no one was following it. He peered hard at the face. Remus gasped and blushed. It was Ari. But why would Ari be running into the Forbidden Forest? It was Forbidden! Besides, the nocturnal creatures were even more dangerous then the regular ones! Madam Pomfrey came out from treating a patient who had Bubotuber Pus dumped on his face on accident in herbology.  
  
"C'mon Remus, it's time to go, " Madam Pomfrey said while quickly washing her hands. He followed her out of the Hospital wing and to the huge Whomping Willow.  
  
The tree froze for a moment, twitching wildly as Madam Pomfrey struck the knob. She shooed him inside and stepped out of the tree's reach as it unfroze. He looked across at the Forbidden Forest. Had he just imagined seeing Ari? This thought was wiped from his head as The moonlight washed over his body, and he howled in disillusional pain.  
  
**  
  
Ari groaned as she felt a sharp pain in her back. She began trembling, and was covered in cold sweat. Her muscles became tense, and her holly-green eyes turned a bright golden. She howled with torment as her body melted into that of a humongous wolf, even bigger then Auriga at his giant panther size. She needed meat. The taste was the only thing that satisfied her. Her midnight black fur bristled along her spine. She paced along the walls of her cave for Two hours. Finally she couldn't stand it any more. She launched herself at full speed against the barrier against the opening of the cave. It sent out a shock of tremendous voltage, and she howled. But she really wanted meat. Then after five solid minutes of the high voltage pulsating through her nerves, it stopped. Ari walked out of the cave and ran around the Forbieddent Forest in search of prey. Ari the werewolf was loose on the grounds.  
  
**  
  
Ari was eating a deer in her cave, with the only sound of the howling wind and her only company besides the doe was blood and the occasional bone littered all over the floor. As she finished off the deer, she stood up, fangs glinting in the darkness. But just before she was about to sprint off into the early morning, she saw the sun breaking over the horizon. She felt the hair all over her body slowly melt back into her flesh. Her fangs quickly dissolved into her regular size, and she collapsed, breathing heavily. The strength that she had as a wolf drained from her body as she passed out.  
  
Ari woke with quite a start, and felt someone slapping her face repeatedly.  
  
"Ari? Ari? Please wake up!"  
  
Ari woke up, and shot from the ground, and saw the carcass of the dead deer, flickering by the flame on the end of two people. Remus was the one crouching over her, and looking very worried. Albus Dumbledore was standing over the two of them , and was smiling very serenely.  
  
"Oh, Ari, what attacked you? What happened? Can I walk you to Madam Pomfrey?" "You have blood all over you and your clothes are all shredded..."  
  
He was blurting out everything, very fast, and was still staring at her. Ari got a clearer focus and saw that Remus was dreanched with sweat, and was breathing quite loudly.  
  
"What? What's going on?" Ari said weakly.  
  
Dumbledore was still smiling, and he chuckled slightly.  
  
"Don't worry, dear child, now, I believe, that Mr. Lupin will take you to the hospital wing, because I think you may just have a very broken leg. Now, off you go, if there is anymore problems, ask to see me, I'll be in my office. The password is 'Pumpkin Pasties'. The gargoyle will then let you pass. Just don't go and give out my password. Good day," And then he made his way out of the cave and walked towards the castle. It was a couple of moments before Ari or Remus could say anything to each other, and then they stood up. Of course, only three legs were touching the ground, because Ari's left leg was being supported by Remus. She limped out, but then Remus thought this would take forever. Remus picked her up, and carried her to the castle. She was getting redder and redder by the second. She hid her face with her sleeve, trying to conceal her look of happiness. Remus was carrying her, and wasn't making a face of disgust or anything.  
  
"All right, Ari, We're almost at the hospital wing. If you need anything, I'll be right there, right at your side." He stared down at her stared deep into her eyes. She stared back, letting herself blush. he saw this and blushed a deep shade of red.  
  
They stopped blushing when they reached the infirmary.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey! I have Ari Sekanori, and Professor Dumbledore and I found her in the Forbidden Forest. She was attacked by something, and-" He was cut by a raging Madam Pomfrey, and she was starting to swell.  
  
"Why was this girl in the forest for such a long while? Why didn't you try to run, dear? What was the animal that attacked you?!" She shrieked. Remus didn't say anything. He set her down on a bed and stared at her. he kept staring at her, apperntly waiting for an answer, because he looked so worried.  
  
Sadly Ari could not reveal this information, not in front of Remus.  
  
" I, I can't tell you..It was...very Traumatic! I will tell you Remus, just...not yet. Professor Dumbledore will tell you if I can't. I think I need to lie down, my head is..kind of...spin..niing..." Ari said, trying to buy some time. But she didn't realize that she was lying down, and Remus was about to point this out when she fainted. He stiffened and began to tremble.  
  
"Ari! ARI!" He said, kneeling before her. Madam Pomfrey told him she had a fever and she had to tend to Ari. He left, slowly and sadly, and Madam Pomfrey closed the door. She let Ari sleep for a long time, all the while pondering why this girl was out in the Forbidden Forest.  
  
**  
  
Remus walked back to the boy's dorms after being forced to leave by Madam Pomfrey. He opened the door, to find a humongous panther standing with it's paws on Sirius's chest, licking his face.  
  
"Good God Sirius! What the hell is that thing doing in here?!" Remus shrieked, forgetting completely about his problems when he saw the life- sized panther in his dorm.  
  
"Ugh! GET OFF ME!" Sirius shrieked in disgust as the panther began to fall asleep on his chest. Suddenly Auriga shrank to regular size. Sirius dangled a Chocolate Frog in front of Auriga's Nose. The cat chomped onto Sirius' left hand.  
  
"AAACK! REMUS! GET IT OFF ME!" Remus tried to pry the beast off Sirius. Unfortunately, the only thing Auriga did was dig it's teeth into Sirius's flesh.  
  
"I think I'd better go see Madam Pomfrey. Damn Cat! Why did Ari buy this thing?" Sirius pondered while he held his arm tenderly, Auriga still knawing on him. Remus heard his last words and joplted his snese back to his statement.  
  
"Huh? What do you mean? Why do you have Ari's cat?" Remus said quickly and scaredly.  
  
"She said she was going to leave for a few days. She asked me to take care of it. Why?" Sirius stated, raising one eyebrow. Auriga started to make his way up Sirius' arm and he was knawing on his shoulder.  
  
"Oh..nevermind.." Remus said, and Sirius shrugged (Auriga juggled up and down) and walked out the door in search of Madam Pomfrey.  
  
Now Remus was confused. But she never left Hogwarts...he saw her just today in the Forbidden Forest, knocked out for God knows how long...Remus was left to his own troubling thoughts and his unfinished answers when he finally decided he was so tired and he didn't know if he could stay up much longer.  
  
**  
  
"Muuh.." Ari moaned into her pillow. The hospital wing was empty, except for Herself and Madam Pomfrey.  
  
"What's wrong dear?" Ari sighed, her face still in the pillow.  
  
"You like him, don't you?" Madam Pomfrey smirked. Ari shot up.  
  
"Whathimwho?HuhwhatohRemusohhimhahahahahaha!" Ari said so quickly as she began to sweat. Madam Pomfrey smiled.  
  
"You're blushing, dear."  
  
"Is it that obvious?"  
  
"Well, just remember, there are more to people then what there may seem to be."  
  
//How odd,// thought Madam Pomfrey, //that the two werewolves would fall in love with each other? This could turn out to be some twisted version of those muggle soap-opera's.... Hmm...Maybe it's a wolf thing.//  
  
Ari burried her face back into her pillow and tried to get back to sleep when Sirius walked in.  
  
"Umm.. Madam Pomfrey? I have a Panther on my arm," he mumbled while Auriga was had his body ontop of his head and was knawing playfully at his shoulder. Auriga had grown to full size again.  
  
Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hold on, Black," She pulled a wand out of her pocket. "  
  
"Realeasio."  
  
Auriga, like a robot, removed itself from Sirius's arm and dropped onto the ground with a thud. Auriga leaped of the counter, then jumped up onto Ari's bed and layed down, as Ari stroked his head.  
  
"Thanks for taking care of him for me, Sirius."  
  
Sirius shrugged.  
  
"No problem. Hope you get better, whatever happened." Then he walked out and back to the dorms.  
  
Madam Pomfrey turned back to Ari.  
  
"Feeling Better?"  
  
"Yes," Ari nodded, while petting behind Auriga's ears, and hearing him purr made her feel happier.  
  
Madam Pomfrey handed Ari a tall vile silled to the brim with a strange glowing yellow concotion.  
  
"Drink this."  
  
Ari gulped it quickly, it burned her throat, but it made her leg feel so much better. Ari thanked Madam Pomfrey and went up to the Girl's Dorms to think about many things.  
  
**  
  
Sirius walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room. He *finished* his Essay on the importance of Charms. With the help of Alexis, a Fifth-year who, for a few Knuts, wrote the essay for him. Remus walked in, just as they were finishing the last Paragraph.  
  
"Y'know, that's cheating, Sirius," remus smirked, crossing his amrs over his chest.  
  
"Yeah, Well...I wrote the title sentence!" Sirius exclaimed in a proud sort of way. Remus rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well, I already finished it. Now you'd better hurry or you'll miss supper," remus said, waiting for Alexis to leave and Sirius to put away his freshly cheated paper. They walked down to the great hall, and met up with Peter, James, and Lily. Everyone had finished their First Course and were eating spaghetti when they were joined by Ari.  
  
"Feeling better?" Sirius sais, a noodle falling out of his mouth lazily.  
  
"Yeah. Thanks for taking care of Auriga for me, Sirius. And sorry about the whole hand thing...he does that sometimes. Ooh, is that sausage?" She exclaimed happily. Ari speared one with her fork and dropped it on her plate.  
  
After supper, Ari headed up to the library. she hadn't finished her essay, and it was due tomorrow. She lifted a huge book off the shelf, Charms, but it just listed a bunch and how to cast them. She found a few tidbits and small sections in some other books, and after about an hour she was finished. She glanced at her watch.  
  
"8 O' CLOCK?" Ari tapped her watch. "I'm dead!"  
  
Ari snuck out of the library, and down the stairs. She ran down the hall and was about to turn the corner when she heard a small Meow.  
  
"Oh, yes my sweet...we'll get those Juvenile Delinquents...hang 'em in the dungeons by they're wrists, we will..." Ari heard purring, and it sounded louder. It was coming closer..  
  
"Yes, my sweet Norris..." Mumbled Filch.  
  
....She could see their long shadows coiling on the ground. They were almost around the corner-  
  
"Put it on!" James hissed. He tossed a cloak to me and ran off. Ari quickly wrapped the cloak around her shoulders. It was too late to run now. She gulped loudly, expecting Filch to yank the cloak off her.  
  
"Did you hear something, my sweet?" Filch cooed.  
  
Ari heard a cat hiss. He walked around the corner, right in front of Ari, and to her complete surprise, didn't yank the cloak off.  
  
"Hmm...I don't see anything.. come, My sweet Miss Norris. We should check the upper level."  
  
Filch walked ahead, and the cat tailed him. Ari took the oppertunity to kick it. She slipped into the Gryffindor Girl's dorms and changed into her pajamas in the little bathroom quickly. Ari tucked the cloak under her bed, then climbed into it and went to sleep, trying to keep her breathing down as to not wakle the rest of the school.  
  
**  
  
Ari was so tired. She couldn't move. Finally, she realized what time it was. If she didn't get her butt out of bed soon, she would be late for breakfast. She rolled over and opened her eyes.  
  
"AAHH!!!" She screeched.  
  
Lily was staring at her like a malicious evil cat, her green eyes piercing through me.  
  
"Um....good morning, Lily," She said confusedly. Ari tried to open and close her eyes tightly. Lily just kept staring at her. Suddenly, her hand lashed out form behind her back and held up James' cloak that he had tossed Ari the night before.  
  
"How..How did you find that?" Ari shrieked.  
  
"I saw a corner of it peeking out from under your bed this morning," She said icily, narrowing her eyes. She bit her lip and started yelling, giving Ari no time to answer for anything.  
  
"HOWDAREYOU!HOWDIDYOUGETTHIS?!IF YOU'RE TRYING TO STEAL JAMES FROM RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE, YOU'VE GOTANOTHER THING COMING! YOU DON'T DESERVE SOMEONE LIKE JAMES YOU...YOU...WEREWOLF!" She screamed, and thankfully, no one else seemed to be in the dorms.  
  
Ari's eye twitched and her lips curled.  
  
"Wha..What?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Hahahahahahaha!!"  
  
She waved her hand, as if fanning herself.  
  
"Now where did you come up with such a proposterous idea like that Lily?I mean haha--werewolf... -- really!"  
  
"Hah! Like I didn't notice! You--always disappearing, which is always conveniantly the full moon! And the way you can slink around is not humanly possible! And...and... you hardly ever eat vegetables, only meat!" Lily was now flushed with anger. Ari's cheeks were flushed with shock and embarassment.  
  
"First of all, James gave me the cloak when I was nearly caught by Filch last night. He saved my skin. And, since the full moon is coming up, I can't afford to get a detention. And...! Besides, I don't like James like that. It's not that I don't like him, but I don't like him like him. And besides, I like R-" Ari trailed off. "Um..I better go get some breakfast.." Lily blinked.  
  
"So..you don't like him?"  
  
"No." Lily smiled.  
  
"And besides," Ari sat up and pulled on her socks. "Even if I did like him, I wouldn't have the chance--" she whispered, "-- he likes you alot."  
  
"Really?" Lily looked relieved. A smile curved her lips.  
  
"Really really." Ari smiled.  
  
"How much? On a scale of one to ten?" Lily was becoming a little interrogating.  
  
"The guy's smitten-- now I want waffles," Ari said as she and Lily walked out of the dorms.  
  
**  
  
Lily acted friendly from then on. She and Ari became pretty good friends while they ate, talking mostly to themselves, about boys, boys, and boys. Only, it seemed to Ari, that all they talked about was Lily liking James. Ari finally decided she better get back to the dorm and pick up her books. She walked out of the hall as she finished her last waffle, which was soggy because she put too much maple syrup on it. We were about to split up to go to our classes when Lily said something that made Ari stop dead in her tracks.  
  
"Y'know, I think Remus mentioned something about you," Lily quirked.  
  
"He...he did? Really?" Ari sputtered.  
  
"Really really," Lily smiled. She laughed and walked off down the hall.  
  
**  
  
The next morning at breakfast Ari had grabbed some bacon and was talking with Sirius, mostly about James and Lily, but she was about to ask him if he could take care of Auriga again when Remus sat down next to her. Ari could feel her face turning red.  
  
"Man, it's warm in here today. You'd think with magic they could summon up an air conditioner," Ari said quickly, fanning herself with her own hand.  
  
Remus smiled.  
  
She was safe. Or...so she thought. Ari stuffed another peice of bacon in her mouth.  
  
"So Sirius, what I miss?" Asked Remus. He was finally joining in on the conversation.  
  
"Oh, Ari was asking me to take care of Auriga again for her."  
  
Remus looked a little suspicious for a moment, then smiled.  
  
"I just hope we don't have another incident," Sirius said and Remus laughed. Ari looked at Remus when he was laughing. She couldn't help staring. His canines were abnormally large. Remus saw her staring and quickly shut his mouth. He glared at her for a while. Ari whirled her head around and grabbed some more bacon, hiding her reddening face.  
  
She stuffed the bacon in her mouth and swallowed hard. It hurt her throat and her eyes watered, but she finished it.  
  
"I think I'm late for broomstick practice." I ran out into the courtyard. I was the first one there. Madame Hooch was getting out the brooms from the Storage shed.  
  
"Oh, good morning, Miss Sekanori. Could you help me set up these brooms for class?" Madam Hooch asked politely.  
  
"Sure." Ari replied.  
  
"Just set them into two rows."  
  
She did as Madam Hooch said, and after a while when she had finished, students started arriving for class. They practiced faster kickoffs, loops and spiraling. A boy named Eric Longbottom was afraid to get on the broom and needed much coaxing by Madam Hooch.  
  
**  
  
"Order, order!" cried Sirius, pounding his wand on the nightstand. He had assembled Peter, James, Lily and himself in the Boy's dorms. Lily was hiding under the invisibility cloak, as the teachers would not approve of her being there.  
  
"Ok, we know Remus likes her." said James. He turned to Lily.  
  
"What about vice-versa?" James asked.  
  
Lily nodded invisibly, pulling the cloak off momentarily so everyone could see her.  
  
"Yep," She replied, then pulled it back on. Peter sighed.  
  
"We know they like each other. But how do we get them together?" He mused.  
  
"The guy's torturing himself! It's always 'Ari' this and 'Ari' that," Sirius said, spilling his thoughts into dialouge. The four thought and thought for what seemed like a million years.  
  
"I know!" Lily exclaimed finally. She pulled the hood of the cloak down and let everyone see her face. "I heard of this games Muggles play. 'Zap,' I think it's called? Anyway, they write a time and a name on someone's hand, and if the person looks at the name on their hand before the time, they have to ask the person if they like them," She said, grinning. Sirius started to laugh.  
  
"Perfect! Lily, you should do it," Sirius suggested. She stared at him.  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"I hate you too."  
  
"But not really."  
  
"Of course." **  
  
The next morning, Lily found Ari in the dorm rooms.  
  
"Hey Ari, wanna play a game?" Lily said sneakily.  
  
Ari was bored, so she agreed. Lily wrote 'Remus' on Ari's left hand, and 11:59 p.m. on her right. Immediatly, Ari began to ask questions as Lily smirked knowingly.  
  
"Hey Lily! What did you write on my hand? Lemme see!" Ari exclaimed. Lily burst out in a fit of giggles. Ari turned her hands over.  
  
"Hey! What's this?"  
  
Lily grinned. It worked! And even quicker than expected!  
  
"Hah! You looked before the time on your hand! Now you have to ask Remus-" she picked up Ari's left hand- "If he liiiiiiiikes you!"  
  
Ari's face went furiously red.  
  
"I hate you! I can't do this!" Ari moaned, but Lily just waved her finger.  
  
"You have to! It's the rules!" Then Lily walked out of the room, leaving Ari to stew in her own mixed juices.  
  
**  
  
That day Ari caught Remus in the hall after lunch. She sighed.  
  
//Why does cruel fate mock me so?// She thought.  
  
Ari took a breath.  
  
"Remus..do..you..like me?" She said. Waiting for the answer nearly killed her. But what she didn't know was that Remus wasn't thinking like himself.  
  
//Why not!// thought Remus. //I'm going to have to tell her someday, why not now?// His brain had been affected from the mixture of Morphine and Verasitum Madam Pomfrey gave him to help him with the side effects after his last transformation.  
  
"Of course I like you! In fact better yet, I love you!" Remus giggled stupidly and twirled around, dancing before he ran off down the hall, screaming "Meriadoc Brandybuck!" being inspired by the latest book he was reading for Muggle studies. Ari stared after him, confused and scared about him.  
  
**  
  
Ari felt considerably lighter that day, and it rushed by. She returned to the Gryffindor common room after supper to find a now sober Remus sitting in a big red armchair hiding behind Hogwarts: a History. He had been told, by various people, what he had said in the halls. Every time someone retold the sequents of events, his face went a bright scarlet, and tried to avoid Ari for the rest of the day. Then he heard a voice behind his book.  
  
"Aww, why you hidin', Reemy?" Ari smiled. She kneeled down close to him.  
  
He slowly lowered his book, and could feel his face burning. //It's Ari! Now she's probably going to laugh at me for liking her....// Remus coudl feel himself burn up higher than usual. he burried his nose back into his book, but couldn't read it because his eyes had began to water. He knew she wouldn't feel the same way...but he liked her so much...  
  
"Is it true what you said?" Her voice suddenly jerked him back to reality. Remus's face went even more red. If that was even possible. He slowly lowered his book, then wiped away the tears building up in his eyes. He nodded slowly. But ot his complete surprise, Ari suddenly embraced him in a big hug and started to laugh. She hugged him tightly once more then skipped off, looking considerably brighter than before. Remus sat in the chair, dumbfounded, not knowing what just happened. Then...it hit him. Could she...? No....she wouldn't...would she?  
  
**  
  
Sirius, James and Peter were walking back to the dorm rooms. They opened the door. It was't shocking, but they were still kind of surprised. They saw Remus and Ari, on the bed, talking, and sitting very close and holding hands.  
  
"Whoa! Reemy, what goes on here?" Sirius sniggered. Then Peter started in.  
  
"C'mon guys, I think they want their privacy," He mused. James decided that he was right, and walked out the door, followed by Peter. Sirius started to close the door.  
  
"Remus, you old dog!" Sirius exclaimed. James came back and laughed at Sirius's comment.  
  
"Yeah, you old fox, you!" He said. Sirius snickered.  
  
"You kids." Peter shook his head and closed the door, blocking the two annoying ones from the blushing Remus and Ari.  
  
**  
  
Ari felt so happy the next day. She felt that she had finally gotten the love of her life and nothing was going to stand in her way. Except for classes. And waking up. And having to lug about ten million pounds of textbooks on her back. Man, life can be a downer--can't it?  
  
"ARI!!!! I SEE YOU!!!" screeched Sirius.  
  
"AH!!!!" Ari woke from a start and jumped out of bed. She saw that Sirius was not in her room, but hovering fifty feet oabove the ground. He was flying on his broom. She got all the strength she could muster and gave him a big slap across the cheeck. He was still giggling.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU!! WHAT IF I WASN'T--WASN'T DECENT?? WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED THEN? WOULD YOU HAVE ALERTED THE ENTIRE MALE POPULATION TO STARE AT MY NAKED SELF?"  
  
Sirius turned red, but smarmingly replied, " I bet Remus would have the tiime of his life," then he started to laugh again. She pushed him off his broom, and he screamed for a second before recovering fomr an almost fatal fall.  
  
"Sooooo--when are going to go out with him?" Sirius asked. Ari pulled on her cloak and stared at him with a large look of annoyance on her face.  
  
"Why should I tell you? What gives you the right to pry into other people's business?" Ari snapped back. Sirius giggled. he jumped into the room and left his broom on the floor.  
  
"You're not supposed to be in here, you know," Ari said smoothly. Sirius just laughed.  
  
"Well, I don't play by the rules. Remus just wants you to know that he really likes you and he--" Sirius stopped for a moment, wondering if he should go on. Ari gave her full attention to him.  
  
"What?" She asked. He swallowed, then continued.  
  
"He wants you to be his girlfriend," Sirius said quietly, waiting for the blow to fall. but, to his surprise, when he opened his eyes, he saw Ari dancing around and jumping up and down, giggling like a silly school girl.  
  
"Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!!" She excalimed, bobbling her head hardly. Sirius smiled.  
  
"Great! Remus really likes you, he has ever since we were on the train here," Sirius said. he walked back to his broom and took off out of the window. Ari sat back down on her bed. Visions of Remus flooded through her mind. His cute face when he blushed, his sandy blonde hair, everything that made her heart sing. Ari suddenly sprang up from her bed and gasped.  
  
"Tonight's the full moon!" She howled. She didn't know how she could have missed it. She had remembered that Auriga needed to be taken care of by Sirius, but she didn't know how she coudl have missed it. Maybe the whole episode with remus made her lose track of time. //Love can do that, I suppose...// Ari thought. She grabbed her things and raced out inot the common room. Thankfully, it was a Saturday. She found that everyone was out of the dorm except for James, Peter, Sirius, Lily, and Remus. All of them were sitting and talking around the fire. Ari smiled. She ran quickly down the stairs and sat down in the nearest red-armchair.  
  
"Top of the morning to you, M'lady!" Sirius chortled. Ari reddened. Sirius bowed deeply to her, taking her hand and kissing it. Remus, from out of the corner of his eye was becoming a little jealous. Ari couldn't notice, Sirius was blocking him from view. Lily started laughing and patting Remus on the back.  
  
"Don't worry, Remus, you don't need to get jealous. We're just making sure she's in a good mood for you to ask her, that's all!" She said, whispering into his ear. Remus turned and smiled. He quickly stood up and pushed Sirius out of the way, back into his armchair. He smiled at Ari, his cheeks blushing with embarrassment. Ari stood up as well and stared into his deep eyes. He blushed even deeper. He cleared his throat and took her hand into his own.  
  
"Ari...I was just wondering...will you be my...girlfriend?" Remus asked. Every pair of eyes was on them in the Gryffindor common room. Sirius held his breath, even though he already knew the answer. Ari smiled, tears forming in her eyes. She brought her head closer to his and kissed him. She kissed him right on the lips, and he let her. When they separated, Remus had goen the reddest color of any known being on this godly earth. Sirius was wooping, James and Peter were sniggering, and Lily was crying, and mumbling things like, 'That's so beautiful!' and 'They shuld be together!'  
  
Remus just stared inot her eyes, and she stared back. He had apparently taken this as a yes. He let go of her hands and hugged her tightly, all the while Ari doing the same, and she breathed happily into his shoulders. She was so happy.  
  
"I have always loved you, ever since we met on the train," Remus whispered into her ear. She closed her eyes and let the tears run down her face. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and they stopped embracing. She held his hand tightly, and he sat back down. She followed him, and the two shared a big squashy seat together. Sirius kept laughing. James kept up his sniggering, and Lily hugged Ari. Air smiled. //I love belonging like this...I hope we can be friends forever...//  
  
** Later on that day, everyone else in first year could talk of little else except for the fact that Remus and Ari had finally gotten together. All year all of the girls kept encouraging Ari to go and ask Remus out; he was always staring and blushing at her, they always said he had a major crush on her. And the same went for the boys encouraging Remus. Mostly it was Sirius, James, and Peter, always saying that the two of them looked really good together, and now everyone's work had finally payed off. But something happened during lunch.  
  
"Remus--c'mon! We're gonna be late!" Called Sirius. He was standing at his dormroom door, which was closed. Remus had been in there for a while, and he kept calling out things like, 'I'll be out in a minute!' But he kept howling and scratching at the door. Sirius assumed it was another one of his transformations gone haywire. He, James, and Peter had all figured out that he was a werewolf a few weeks ago, and they were so glad they had finally figured out. But they didn't know how Ari would react, so none of them ever said a word about it. Sirius opened the door and found Remus, sprawled on the ground, with his robes torn up, his tail swishing madly in every direction, and he had his hands uponhis head, clasping his newly grown ears. Sprouts of hair came up around his arms and legs, and he seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Sirius immediatly dropped his books on the ground and tried to help Remus up.  
  
"It's okay, everything's fine, do you want me to bring up some meat for you, Reemy?" Sirius asked, worridly. This had happened once before, and Peter, Sirius, and James had handled it pretty well, considering. Remus couldn't go out of his dorm for the rest of the day, and it had been a school day. He missed the rest of his classes and they had reported it to Madam Pomfrey, who knew it would be a bit of trouble trying to remove him formt he dorm, so she ordered the rest of them to keep up the good work and help him out until she came at sunset.  
  
"Please, Sirius...just, don't let Ari see me, give her some excuses, don't let her see me!" Remus said weakly. Sirius nodded while helping Remus into his four-poster and quickly shutting the blinds. Sirius conjured up a sign on the door which read" 'Please do not disturb,' //Oh, Remus...// Sirius thought sorrowfully as he shut the door, leaving his friend to writhe in pain with his hideous wrong transformation.  
  
Sirius ran down the stairs of the boys' dorms at top speed, urging himself to go faster. He had to tell James what had happened. Soon, he founf Lily, Ari, Peter, and James all sitting down in front of the fire, as usual, but Ari seemed to be sort of distraced. Sirius noticed she didn't look all that well. BUt he needed to tell James. He waved for James to come over, and James sauntered form his chair and joined Sirius, a frown on his face.  
  
"What's the matter, Sirius?" James asked. Sirus gulped, feeling himself sweat. He brought his hand to James ear and whispered, "It's Remus--he's transforming early...tell Ari something...make sure she doesn't find out," Sirius frowned. James gasped, and raced up the stairs, ignoring the sign, and saw Remus on his bed, not even bothering with the sheets, just panting and scratching himself. James nearly gasped, but bent down to help his friend.  
  
"Remus, are you all right? What's happened?" James asked. Remus hesistated, trying to muster up his strength and say something. But when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a faint whimper. James immediatly ran down from the Boys' dorms, out the portrait hole, ignoring the shouts of why he was running from Ari and Lily, (Peter and Sirius had goen up to Remus,) and James finally made it to Madam Pomfrey's office.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey! He's--" James stopped dead in his tracks when he found she wasn't there. He looked all around her office, but found her no where in sight. james sauntered out of her office and went down to the Great Hall and gathered as much meat as he could carry. Soon after, James ran back trhough the Potrait hole and ran back up to Remus. Sirius and Peter had gone back down to Lily, whom of which was quite confused. James was about to ask where Ari was, but decided he needed to get Remus to eat something. He ran back up to the door and ran in, opened up the four-poster, and found a panting, cold, and clammy Remus, who seemed to be having major problems with his breathing. //Why is he having side-effects like this?// he thought hurridly. He sat Remus up and helped him swallow some food when he looked out the window. James lay Remus back down, and peered out the winodw, onto the grounds, and he saw where Madam Pomfrey had gone to. But--she was with someone else. On closer inpection, James found it was Ari.  
  
"J-James...what's going on?" Remus asked, trying to sit up, paying no mind to the great amount of meat James had brought up. James kept staring out the window, wondering why they were heading towards the Forbidden Forest. He didn't hear Remus. James took off hsi glasses and wiped them a few times, trying to get a better view on the sitiuation. But there was no getting around it, Ari was wondering into the Forbidden Forest. Again.  
  
"James?" Remus repeated, trying to get up from his bed. James had noticed him, finally and ran back to him, ushering him back down again.  
  
"Don't worry, I just thought I saw something...I'll go and get Madam Pomfrey--I think the sun's going to set soon," James said half- distractadly. He hurried out of the room again, and found Lily, Peter and Sirius, all of which were now lounging around. Lily seemed pretty distracted, not too into anything. James was about to disappear behind the portrait hole again when Lily stood up and tugged on his sleeve. He turned around, facing her. Her face was full of worry.  
  
"Is-is Remus going to be okay?" She asked, a look of sorrow on her face. James nodded and put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Just-just stay with these two and don't mess with him right now."  
  
James went back out, and ran down the stairs to see where Madam Pomfrey and Ari were going.  
  
**  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Lily hissed, grabbing Sirius' shoulders. She shook him hard as soon as James had left, and Peter ran a hand through his hair. Sirius blinked a few times and started to sweat.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" She repeated again. Sirius tried to smile weakly, but stopped when Lily began to cry.  
  
"I don't want anything bad to happen to him! If he dies, or gets real sick, then Ari will be so sad! She really loves him...and she would probably die of a broken heart!" Lily sobbed. She fell into Sirius robes and began to cry. He patted her back uncomfortably, not knowing what to do or say. Finally, Sirius caught his throat and tried to glance at Peter, who was trying to stifle laughter, and mouthing, 'James is gonna kill you!' Sirius glared at him, but then patted Lily's back a little more affectionatly.  
  
"Remus isn't gonna die...he's just a little sick at the moment. And we will tell you what's going on--just not right now. He woudln't want to have you worrying over him all the time. He's sort of a rebel, you know? Well--" Sirius cut himself off when he placed a embarresed hand behind his head and chuckled slightly, "I guess the book-worm, always do your homework, like the teacher's sort of guy suits him more...but that's not the point. He just doesn't think anyone should worry over him," Sirius smiled. Lily looked back up at Sirius with blurry eyes and a sniffly nose.  
  
"Are-are you sure he's gonna be all right?" Lily asked, a tremble in her voice. Sirius nodded.  
  
"Now, c'mon, you gotta stay." 


End file.
